Variable Message Signboards (VMS) have been installed to inform the motorist about safety messages, traffic diversions and road accidents to enable the motorist to plan their routes. Right now they have been installed at ten locations such as Hebbal Road – Towards Bengaluru City and Towards BIAL, and Basaveshwara Circle on Race Course Road The traffic police plan to install VMS at another 10 locations in the city.
Bengaluru’s traffic police department has collected 36 crores as fine amount between January to September 2010 compared to 23 crores in 2009 for the same period, registering an increase of 50 percent.
In September alone around 2.8 lakh cases have been registered by the Bengaluru City traffic police with a fine collected amounting to over 4 crores.
Not having to go to the police stations or courts to pay fines has made a big difference in the collections. Mohammed Sajjad Khan, Police Inspector, DCP traffic (East) division says "After Bangalore One was authorised to collect fines, there has been a drastic increase in revenue since people were comfortable not going to police station instead pay at the Bangalore One centers."
A BMTC bus jumping signal is being caught on wide screen through TMS. Pic: Prabhu M.
BMTC drivers’ traffic violations comprise a significant number of cases. An average of 67 cases are booked against BMTC drivers every month for rash driving and 1760 cases for jumping traffic signals and wrong parking. The traffic police conduct sensitisation courses and training for BMTC drivers but despite that every month fines of around 2 lakh is being collected from them.
"There are around 1500 traffic police men posted in Bangalore and in 160 junctions surveillance cameras are installed. The registration numbers of the vehicles violating certain rules are easily captured" says, Police Inspector, Khan.
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The Bangalore traffic police have done a fantastic job of automating the monitoring of traffic violations. The use of the Blackberry devices and the mobile printers are spectacular innovations in civic policy. Hats off to the officers and the private initiatives which have made this a reality. What is needed now is political reform to make the fines meaningful – a Rs 100 fine is only seen as a cost of driving in Bangalore and will not serve as a deterrent or motivate better driving practices. Further political and judicial reform is needed to document and track habitual offenders.
It is also imperative that the revenue not go to benefit the Police/City/State or any other authority involved in collecting the fines or making rules about fines.
Note that it is almost impossible to refute the fine and no evidence is provided – no wonder that the average citizen just pays up.
Second, tampering with the system to enhance revenue has happened even in developed countries, so the less said about Bengaluru, the better.
There are many more disadvantages of this automated system and ‘enhanced revenue collection’; all of which can be alleviated by donating the collections to charity. I suggest ‘The Great Ape Project’
Mr. Sood, in fact the remaining 50% has gone into pockets of officials who handle the situation, otherwise collection would have been double. This is a well known fact to all vehicle users in Bangalore.